Wow, weird. A man and women just came in our offices / showroom and ask who owned the new avalon outside (Parking is such that most people are parked in front of their offices and that's why they came in), anyways, I said it was mine, and they said "Wow, great looking car", "I'll bet your real happy"!

The Avalon Hybrid is quiet, no doubt. But the 3.5 V6 is certainly smoother, refined and more quiet than the hybrids gas engine. Of course when running on electric only, no gas engine will be less noticed, but that is only under very low load. The gas engine will be on the vast majority of the time. The Toyota hybrid combination is very nice, but you will certainly hear that 4 cyl. when under heavier acceleration. Once cruising, you'll not detect much difference, except in fuel economy.

Having driven the 2012 Camry Hybrid for a year now, it is a very well built hybrid. Real world mileage is 40 mpg. Being the same powertrain in the Avalon, it will perform very similar. We chose the V6 in the Avalon, as we preferred that powertrain. The 6 speed tranny is splendid.

"Avalon engineers stole a move from the Lexus playbook by creating safe-room silence inside. At 59.8 decibels the Avalon recorded one of the lowest 70-mph cruise noise readings we've measured in any car in recent memory &#151; including such costly equipment as the Bentley Continental GT (61.6 decibels) and the Audi A8 L (60.9 decibels)"

Until the V6 is tested, the hybrid Avalon is the new King of Smooth! :shades:

I just drove the av 2013. I have to say I was disappointed room wise and the new instrument panel. I love my 2011 that I purchased in 2010. So I marked the 2013 off my list and just found the same cypress green in a 2012 at a great price under invoice, and great trade in for my almost 38 thousand mile Av. It was a no brainer for me, just did not like what they did inside the 2013, it didn't inspire me to buy it. My dealer told me other people have also been disappointed. So with all the hype for styling which was true, other factors turned me off. They also reduced the gas tank so it no longer holds 18 gallons, it's 16 something gas tank, and a smaller spare and no aluminum scuff plate on entering the car, replaced with plastic. So just got turned off.

With all those comments it is hard to believe that you aren't already having buyer's remorse with the 2013. I am glad that you are enjoying the car. It sounds to me that Yota is trying to move the Avalon away from being a Japanese Buick and more to being a solid competior to the Maxima, 300, and Hyundai Genesis.

I did see one at the local Toyota dealer in a dark grey. That color makes the big mouth bass grille look a little tamed down.

test drove a xls today.i have a 2012 limited.the 2013 seats are alot more comfortable.the side body curves on the car are beautiful.the inside is the bad part.it looks more like a touched up camry.not a inch of the 2013 says luxury. defenitely more sporty with its suoer thick steering wheel and its wide gear shift.stitch is nice but the plastic throughout the car really sticks out.also not as much space inside as the 2012.defenitely more sporty.toyota should of invented a totally different name instead of calling it a avalon!

Don't seem willing to trade some room and conservative luxury for more style, tech, and efficiency. The new car is clearly a better car, but it's not a Buick LaSabre anymore. If that's what you want, you know where to go.

I agree. Toyota SHOULD have come up with a new sports car and made the Avalon a truly luxurious car. I personally think they missed the boat.

An Avalon was NEVER considered a sporty car, so why try to make it something it's not?

The car WILL sell well, but it will be curious to see if they push it towards a luxury car or sports car in future models.

It will be interesting to see what CNET (The Car Tech Guy?) has to say about the car - if he does a review on it. It will also be interesting to see what MotorWeek has to say about the car, if they do a video test drive of it.

you'll be a fool to think toyota wasnt aiming to be sporty with this new avalon.you cant tailor your entire selection of cars to please a certain demographic.that younger clienetele does get old also.i say fire the 25yr old who designed it.he could of easily pleased grampa and 29yr old billy with a car that didnt straight up copy a azera.the car is nice but it's more of a touched up camry.the 2011-2012 avalon was never lame.it was a elegant car that was purchased by smart 'buyers who couldn't see themselves blowing 10,000$ more on the same exact car,only with the LEXUS badge on it! let's see how desirable the 2013 will be after the sales figures come in

Just because it is sportier than the 2012 Avalon, doesn't make it a "sporty car". I know school buses that are sportier than the 2012 Avalon

And what are you bringing up Azera for? Azera came out 8-9 months ago? How did anybody copy that?

Toyota wants to sell 50-6k a month, which is much more than the 25k a year the current car sells, and they will get there. It is getting great press, and does many things better than the current class leaders, LaCrosse, Maxima, and 300

azera could of came out 10yrs ago! doesn't matter.the back of the 2013 avalon is an exact replica.lets not even get started on the avalon's front snow plow grill. if a super thick nascar steering wheel and an extra wide gear shift doesn't make it look sporty,i dont know what does. damn near every youtube review of the car also labels it sporty. if you think it will sell 25k plus a year,more power to you

Thanks Skip for sharing that information. If you are happy with your trade and you are happy with your 2013 Avy Limited that's all that counts. Once again congrats on the purchase of your "sporty" new wheels.

On a related note, through the Consumer Reports buying program, a local dealer in Boston is offering $37,500 on a $42,200 MRSP. Not a bad price, but I just wanted to gauge the merit or value of CR's buying program. Has anyone used this program and did the dealer honored their commitment?

Don't mean to be disrespectful but these were your numbers quoted directly from your earlier post. Obviously, there was a miscommunication but I just wanted to make that clear. I hope no offense is taken because it was not intended.

Both the Avalon Hybrid and V6 are very refined. However, the Hybrid 4 cyl. while under acceleration is more noticed. When in all electric, it is very hushed.I drive a 2012 Camry Hybrid, and it is one of the nicest hybrid systems on the market. We planned to get the Avalon Hybrid, but after my wife drove the V6, we decided to get the V6 Limited instead. Either car is a nice combination of style, class and performance.Everyone has opinions and likes/dislikes of interiors, exterior style, etc. We found that the interior layout, controls and overall quality of the new Avalon's interior to be quite nice. The front grill (especially on a Pearl White, as my wife is getting) will have to grow on us. The outgoing Avalon is still a very nice car, and will serve it's owners well. But, Toyota needed a major redirection for that car, as the demographics were not working for it anymore, as sales had been slipping every year. I believe the new style will sell very well.

Both Consumer Reports and USAA use the same car buying service (TrueCar) and I have used it on two occasions without problems. If you qualify, the USAA service is free to USAA members and in comparing the numbers between the two companies, the bottom lines are identical.